One day as we were sitting at the mall food court people observing, we watched as a group of teenagers were busily talking to each other and well, being teenagers. The mall has always been a great place for teenagers to hang out. Some of the time it appears that teenagers are up to no good at the mall. Just hanging out.

These teenagers were at a table close to an island of gumball machines. When they got up to leave, one of the teenagers walked over to the gumball machine island and left something there. Then just like that, this group of teenagers went off to cruise the mall or maybe catch a movie.

We were curious. So we walked over closer to see what had been left. These were teenagers. It must have been something goofy or weird. Right?

We were wrong. When we walked over to the gumball machine. There sat 2 quarters, 50 cents right on the corner of the island. When we saw that act of kindness we were taken back. Teenagers don’t do nice things but these teenagers did and we were curious enough to see what happened that we sat there and watch would would happen next.

Sure enough a little family came by the food court to grab a bite to eat. And as children do, the two little ones were intrigued by the gumball island. They walked over and looked at every machine and every flavor trying to decide which one they would like. Then they turned the corner and saw the 2 quarters just sitting there. Not sure what to do they went over and asked their parents. I am not sure what the parents said but the children made their way back and took the quarters and were able to have a little treat at the mall thanks to some nice teenagers.

This may seem simple. After all it was only 50 cents. But it made us realize that there was good in the world and little acts of kindness can go a long way. It sure brightened our day.

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We are just a few days away from the big guy coming to our house. Santa must be preparing for a big night. This week we hung all of our stockings. It was a huge job. Twenty six stockings all hung in a row. As my husband and I started adding up the family members we were sure we had counted somebody twice or even three times. As we recalculated and wrote down each name we came to realize that 26 was the magical number. This past year we added a son in law, two granddaughters and a soon to be son in law. We are truly blessed to have such a wonderful family.

So now with all of the decorating done and stockings hung we realized that we had a huge job ahead of us. Christmas shopping!

Our grown kids are easy. It’s a surprise but we are really excited about it, but the grandchildren! What do we get for the grandchildren? Does anyone have any ideas?

I checked my list and I checked it twice and still I am unsure. Here are some of my ideas:

The grandsons are all into different things right now. So I have a couple of ideas for them. They love the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the Incredible Hulk. Those would be easy gifts for my little guys. How about this fun idea?

After I saw a train chugging around my son-in-laws Christmas tree this year I knew this would be a great idea. Every young boy needs a choo-choo train for Christmas.

But I know that every grandchild from newborn to 5 years old would love and be able to easily maneuver this great device. On sale this week, the Fire HD 7 Kids Edition.

I am amazed with the intelligence of these little children. They know how to swipe and click and handle all electronic devices. I shouldn’t be surprised though. They have some pretty smart parents.

I am still undecided. So many ideas, so little time. What are some ideas you have for your children or grandchildren? I am open for suggestions.

Christmas is just around the corner. Sometimes parents seem to have everything and it is difficult to shop for them. Here are just a few ideas about what moms might like for Christmas. As a mom/wife, I know I would be thrilled to find any one of these gifts under the Christmas tree.

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1 – How about a Blendtec blender? You know, the one that can blend all kinds of crazy things. Surely it will be able to blend my smoothies and soups.

2 – Then there is the KitchenAid Mixer. I love my 4.5 quart KitchenAid mixer. It has served me well. It still runs well, but if I am going to be making cookies daily for my family I really need the 6 quart KitchenAid. I am not even picky about the color but if I were I would like a blue one.

3 – Next I would have to say a Cricut. These little machines are great for making some pretty great decorations for your home or for gifts and you can get a complete starter kit for a pretty great deal just in time for Christmas.

4 – Since I love taking pictures of my beautiful grandchildren, a new camera would be nice. I love the Nikon brand! This is an easy to use camera and would make all the family Christmas pictures become wonderful Christmas memories.

5 – Now here is a gift that the whole family will enjoy. The Sumo Lounge beanbag chairs. Great for watching movies, reading a good book or just plain relaxing. Mom’s will love it… and they might even let the family have a turn.

These are just a few ideas for Mom’s Christmas. I know some moms enjoy jewelry while others enjoy family pictures. What will you put under the tree for your mom?

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Thanksgiving is a week away. So much to do with buying the turkey, stuffing the turkey, digging up the yams and making pies. You have all this to do and the kids are just BORED! Here is a great activity to keep your kids busy while you get the food cooking.

My family made these years ago. This is one of my favorite pictures of all time (sorry kids). These cute kids were much younger then and some now even have kids of their own. I am so thankful for each of them (remember to write that on a feather) plus all the wonderful new additions to the family (remember to write that on another feather).

The first thing we did was cut out our feathers. There is a PDF in this post that you can print out your feathers. Then the kids all colored them and wrote all of the things they are thankful for on every feather. We used a carrot for the nose with a toothpick through it and stuck the raisins on with water (they got sticky). We taped toothpicks on every feather and then stuck them in the apples in a tail feather fan.

Afterwards the kids displayed their thankful turkey apples for this GREAT photo. Then do you know what we did? We gobbled up those turkeys for a healthy snack.

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I just love the look of burlap banners so I decided I was going to make one for Valentine’s Day. I bought a roll of burlap, this cute Valentine fabric.

I thought it was going to come together so easily. I was wrong. But I am happy with the results. I had planned on leaving raw edges on the burlap, but as I cut it apart I could see that it was just going to unravel. Then I decided I would just hem the edges but the pressing and turning caused more unraveling. Finally I decided to put fabric around the edges and from there it was smooth sailing.

Each piece of burlap is cut 8 inches by 6 inches. The strips around the edges were cut 2 1/2 inches wide. Each fabric strip was folded in half and then the edges were folded under to make a smooth edge. I ironed each piece for easy sewing. The burlap was just tucked in between the fabric strip and sewn once. No raw edges! While sewing the top strip, I tucked a piece of jute along the top for easy hanging.

The letters were made with my Cricut machine. I ironed my material onto a fusible web (like Heat n’ Bond) and then cut letters on the Cricut. The letters are about 4 inches tall.

I tied a little ribbon on the edges and done! In all it took only about an hour to make this project and now I feel like my whole house is ready for Valentine’s Day.